


Searching out Shooting Stars

by SourCrumb



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drug Use, F/M, Wistful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourCrumb/pseuds/SourCrumb
Summary: Hancock and Nora have a quiet moment together as another party comes to an end.
Relationships: John Hancock/Female Sole Survivor, John Hancock/Nora (Fallout)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	Searching out Shooting Stars

The grass felt like velvet against the skin of Nora's lower back. Her shirt had ridden up as she had tumbled to the ground, but it was pleasantly cool and she welcomed the sensation. The night air around her felt like a thousand tiny feathers, probably dropped down from the angels that sat up on high.

Ok, maybe she HAD taken a few too many Day Trippers.

"I told you this would happen," said Hancock, chuckling as he walked towards her spot of earth. "I told you four was too many. I told you the ground would be the magnet and your spine would be the metal, but Oh No, Nora knows her body, she knows what she can handle." He laughed with real affection. He was incredibly fond of her and her shenanigans. 

She would roll her eyes at him, but that would mean opening her eyes first and there was no way that was going to happen; the lids were simply too heavy. She could tell from the sound of his raspy voice that he was grinning like an asshole. That made her grin too.

His shadow fell over her as he leaned down. "When are you going to listen to me and finally accept yourself as the light-weight you are?"

"Mmm... I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured dreamily, the words feeling like butter as they slid past her lips. 

"Bullshit, you don't. I keep telling you, there's no shame in not being able to keep up with me!" He tilted his hat back, gazing down at her. People had been filing out of the bar for a while now, and it was getting quieter with each passing moment. It was almost 4:30 am, so there was no shame in calling the fun to end. He lit up a cigarette and waved goodbye to someone whose name he'd forgotten. 

"I wasn't trying to keep up with you! I don't have a death wish." 

What had happened was that as the party was winding down, Nora thought she should wind down too. She had decided that the best way to sleep was to come down faster from her manic high with the help of some contradictory chems. Surely the calming numbness of Day Tripper would bring her down. She had been correct, but it was all happening a lot faster than she had anticipated. Her bed was too far away. She'd never make it.

"Maybe I'll stay out here tonight.. sleep under the stars," she said, stretching out her arms and squirming on the ground.

"You keep moving like that and I might try to keep you awake all night, chems or not," Hancock said quietly, exhaling smoke through the holes of his nostrils. 

They both knew he was only about 56% joking. The chemistry they had was like nothing she'd ever felt before. For every witty little barb she threw out, he had a perfectly timed response, one just as clever as hers, just as smart. Tiny sparks danced across her skin whenever they happened to brush past each other, and his cocky smile never failed to warm her from the inside-out, no matter the actual weather.

"Hancock, come sit with me! We can look at the stars together."

He arched a brow before wordlessly sitting down on the ground beside her. 

"No, no, you have to lie back." 

"Again, exactly what turn are you expecting this night to take?"

She giggled and swatted his side. "To see the stars!"

"Oh, of course. The STARS." He carefully removed his hat and dropped it over her eyes. She squealed at the sudden darkness. "One second there," he said and she could hear fabric rustling. 

What exactly was going on out there?

The hat was lifted and she winced a little as the streetlight above them came into view. As her eyes refocused she realized he was holding something out. In one hand he held his hat, but the other had his coat, neatly folded into an oblong package of sorts. 

"What is that?"

He shrugged. "The ground is hard. Thought this might be better for your neck."

Nora blinked, her heart skipping a beat. "That's really thoughtful. Thank you." 

"Here, hold your arms up for a second." 

Without a second thought, Nora obeyed, raising her hands to the sparkling sky above. He dropped the hat above her fingers, and she caught it easily. 

"Now, lift up your head."

As she did, he carefully gathered up her hair and moved it over her shoulders. He was careful not to let any of it snag on the roughest edges of his skin. Maybe that was her favourite thing about everyone's favourite ghoul; How he could easily be just as gentle as he could be fierce. 

He slid the make-shift pillow under her, in exactly the right spot. "All right, you're good." Then he took the hat back and laid down next to her.

She snuggled down into the still-warm leather. "Much more comfortable. Thanks again, Hancock." On impulse, she reached for his hand beside hers, holding on with only slightly hesitant fingers. She felt his spread in surprise, but he recovered quickly enough and threaded them firmly through hers. He squeezed once, firmly.

"Think nothin' of it," he said. "You know I like to make you feel at ease." The low rumble of his voice brightened up the darker spots of her mind and brought flutters to her stomach, as well as some that swooped much further down her body. She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry for reasons other than medicinal ones. 

Nora turned her body slowly, propping herself up on her side. She made sure to keep her hand held tightly with his, feeling as though she might float away if she were to let go. He continued to stare up at the sky, squinting at the stars.

"Hancock?" she whispered, and she watched as he smiled. 

"Yes, Nora?"

"Do you know about wishing stars?"

"Of course. Superstitions are timeless. That and bigots." 

She had to admit he had a point. 

"You ever see one?" He asked, scanning the sky intently in case one chose that moment to blaze by.

Nora nodded. "A few times."

"What did you wish for?"

"You know I can't tell you that! It won't come true if you tell"

"Did any of them end up coming true?"

She rolled back to look up again, pondering the question. She'd wished to become someone important when she was younger. Maybe that one could be a yes by now, what with all the settlements she'd helped Preston with. She'd also wished that Shaun would grow up healthy. The jury was still out on that one. She tried to think of something else, something better, but the only other shooting star she could remember was-

Oh. Of course.

~

She'd been out in the yard, looking up at the same sky, just a much younger version of it. It had been chilly. She'd been wearing the cardigan that Nate always complimented her on. He'd been inside, but she could hear his voice rising as he spoke to his father over the phone. They were arguing about the war again.

Then something caught her eye and she watched the starlight streak across the sky. For a moment, everything was still. 

"I wish that the fighting would stop," she whispered to the sky. "I wish these wars would end. I wish we could all live safe and sound."

Less than a month later, the bombs would fall.

~

"No," she said softly. "No. They didn't."

Hancock didn't say anything. He just gave her hand another squeeze.

Nora squeezed back.


End file.
